SWAT Kats: The Dragonfly Saga
by Arjent Draconis
Summary: A series of short stories based on my orriginal SWAT Kats Shadow Trilogy. Each "chapter" is an individual story, in chronological order, containing many different characters, plots, and villians throughout Megakat City!  Starring of course, the SWAT Kats!
1. Resurrection

**SWAT Kats: The Dragonfly Saga**

[This is a series of short stories inspired from my original SWAT Kats _'Shadow Trilogy'_. Each "chapter" is an individual story, taking place in chronological order. This first story in the _Dragonfly Saga _picks up with the end of the last chapter of part 3 of the trilogy, _Shades of Shadow_. This first story mainly pertains to Elena and her return to Megakat City, as well as brings Lt Felina Feral into my stories for the first time. It basically serves as the "bridge" between the Trilogy, and the short-story series. Note that mentions of certain characters and events (such as the character Elena Kougré, her ability to change into an owl or werekat, Jake/Razor's ability to use magic, and the Astral Stone), all pertain to my Shadow Trilogy and not to the original SWAT Kats cartoon show.]

summary: Having lived out her life in the reincarnation of a silver owl, Elena is sent away from the Shadow Relm, and returned to her original body, just outside of Megakat City! After reuniting with her closest friends, the SWAT Kats, Elena then later meets a tough, kick-ass female Enforcer and the two she-kats must team-up to stop an armed-robbery-in-progress.

This story is rated "T" for mild violence and language.

**Resurrection**

The silver and white owl sat perched on her favorite branch of the ancient oak tree. It was winter again, but the hot spring kept the grotto very warm year-round. Nineteen years had past since she had hatched. Her avian body was now facing old age. Some her of her talons had small cracks, she was missing a few flight feathers, and her wing muscles were very stiff in the evenings when she first woke up. There was also a small chip missing out of her beak from a long ago fight with a larger owl. The bird had enjoyed being able to take flight and soar wherever, and whenever she wished. She loved the peacefulness of the forest. But it still wasn't enough.

Once, a lifetime ago, she had been a kat. A powerful sorceress, and a witch. Witches who lose their lives in service to their Goddess are granted a new life. They are reincarnated as a sacred animal. But sorcerers, unlike witches and druids, don't gain their magic from the Gods. They're not meant to be reincarnated, because they keep all of their memories and most of their powers. Most tend to go insane, and some turn into evil monstrosities. The old owl remembered once such sorcerer. His name was Kirok, and he had allowed himself to be killed, so that he could be reborn as a powerful lich. In fact, _she _was the one who had killed him the first time. A mistake he made sure she regretted.

The old owl gazed with dark golden eyes into the bubbling waters of the hot spring. Her eyes were slightly cloudy. She couldn't see as well as she used to. But her memory was still as sharp as ever. She remembered what that sorcerer had done. How he had tried to kill her by sending a monster for her. That failed, so he went after her companions instead. The bird let out a soft sigh at the memory of the other two kats. One, a very close friend. The other, her lover. She missed them. Even reborn as a bird, she still could have stayed close to them, but they were no longer on this world. They left, back to their own world, barely more than a week after her fledging. She only saw them a few short times.

The owl closed her eyes. She knew her time was drawing to a close. With her failing eyesight and aging wings, she had been unsuccessful at hunting these past few weeks. She had lost a lot of weight, and barely had the strength to even fly across the small grotto which was her home. Turning her golden eyes up, she looked at the crescent moon above her, showing faintly through the narrow opening of the crevasse far above.

'Tonight. Tonight I shall pass on again, and leave this body behind.'

A gentle wind blew down from the crevasse above, ruffling her feathers. She looked back up, and heard a soft voice echo across the stone walls.

_My kitten, you have lived a long, good life. This was my gift to you for your service to me. But I fear my gift was also a curse to you. No sorcerer is ever meant to be reborn. Yet you were both sorceress and witch. I know your heart has grieved these many long years._

The bird closed her eyes. She spoke, not with words or sounds, but with her thoughts. With her heart.

'My Queen, you have granted me a great gift. The pain in my heart is mine own, and not of your doing.'

_I understand. But still it is wrong. I would allow your rebirth again, but your power is still too strong. You cannot be reincarnated, because you cannot live a natural life. Your memory of your first life will always remain. Your mind shall always be that of a kat, and never that of your new life._

'Then what is to be done with me? Shall I pass on to the Relm of Night? Or worse?'

She feared she would pass into the dark underworld, the relm of Hel. But it would be no more than she deserved.

_No. You will be resurrected, as a kat._

The owl's eyes opened wide with shock.

'But.. that's not permitted? The other Gods... they would be furious!'

_You are not born of this world. This has been you home for so long, as well as the place of your death. But it is not where you belong. The other Gods have agreed. You will be sent away, and resurrected again upon the world on which you belong._

The bird's heart sank. The world on which she belonged... the world on which she was born... She knew that if she were returned there, back in her kat form, she wouldn't survive long. She would be put to death by the very government that had raised and trained her. Final death... perhaps that's what the Gods had planned afterall.

The source of your sorcery still calls to you. That is where you shall go. Not to be reborn, not to be reincarnated, but to be resurrected, whole again. You shall be as you were the moment your soul left your body, in age and in spirit.

'But... the Stone? You will send me... to where the Stone is?'

She couldn't believe it. That could only mean she was being sent back to her friends. To _him_.

_Yes. Lay yourself down, Elena. Leave that avian body behind you. And I shall return you _home_._

The owl closed her eyes, and exhaled deeply. After a few moments, she opened her eyes again and spread her wings. Gliding down to the ground, she curled up against the base of the massive oak. It would be her final resting place on this world, for this body. The aging owl closed her eyes one last time. She breathed slowly, feeling her heartbeat slow. She felt as if she were going to sleep, but it was a sleep from which there was no waking. A final deep breath. She released it slowly, and with the breath, also released her spirit.

The moon shown bright and full overhead. The she-kat slowly opened her eyes. It took a few moments for her vision to clear. She was in a forest, but not one that she recognized. The trees were very different. And it wasn't winter. Where was she? _When _was she? Slowly, the kat sat up. Her head throbbed. She groaned and placed a hand to her head. A hand... not a wing! Her vision was clearing, and she looked down at herself. She was a kat! Not a bird! Not just any kat, she was herself again! The Gods had kept their promise.

Slowly, carefully, she stood. Reaching back with a hand open, she gripped the night air and pulled it about herself. The shadows seemed to collect into her grasp, and were pulled about her. The Shadow Cloak caressed over her body, covering her unclothed form in a protective layer of black. She still had her magic. At least some of it anyway. She then looked up at the moon. It wasn't silver, it was more pale. It wasn't the moon of the Shadow Relm, but she still recognized it.

"Home..."

Closing her eyes again, she bid her body shift. It responded. She still had the power to change, even though she did not have the Stone. But the Stone was on this world. She could _feel_ it. And she could feel it's keeper. He wasn't too far. And where he was, so would her lover be too. She had to find them. Light chocolate fur melted into silver feathers. Arms became wings. Paws became talons. She retook the other form that was so familiar to her. The form she had worn for the past nineteen years.

Nineteen years... how long had it been here? Only a few months at most. Time passed so differently between the two worlds. And sometimes, the difference wasn't even stable. A few hours could become a few days or several months. A few months could potentially be years or decades. It wasn't relative. Perhaps the stress of travel between two very different worlds affected the time stream. Still, it didn't matter. She was _home_.

Spreading her silver wings wide, she took to the air. Once she passed the layer of trees, she knew where she was. In the distance, she could see the many high buildings of the huge city. She flapped, gaining in altitude. Finding a strong air current, she rode it, letting it take her out of the forest of trees, and into the forest of steel, stone, and glass. Tilting only slightly, she angled her body away from the heart of the large city, and toward the south. Toward the bay. Toward the salvage yard...

She had forgotten how large the city was. In her tiny avian form, it seemed to stretch on forever. But she didn't care. Only one thing mattered now. Eventually, she came in sight of the salvage yard. She swooped low, and spread her wings wide, extending her talons. Carefully, she landed on a tall pile of scrap, overlooking the back of the garage. There were two windows on the upper level on the back side, and she could see them quite clearly. She felt the Stone. Felt it's power calling to her. The curtain moved inside one of the windows. She saw a figure stare out into the darkness towards her. Spreading her wings, she swooped down to the ground, and shifted. She heard the dog barking, and looked up as he ran towards her. She stood, just in time as the large canine jumped. His huge paws hit her hard in the chest, but she kept her balance as she felt his wet tongue on her face.

"Okay. Aries! Okay. Yes, I'm back."

Making the dog get off of her, she walked around to the front of the building, Aries following at a heel, his tail wagging happily. Just as she approached the front, the door opened. She looked up, and smiled at the two kats.

"I told you, I'll _always _be near..."

Chance couldn't believe it. He had dreamed so many times that she'd return. He thought that perhaps this was another dream. But everything felt so real.

"Elena... are you...?"

She smiled softly, the moonlight reflecting in her emerald eyes.

"Yes. I'm back."

"But... how?"

"I had been reincarnated as a bird. A silver owl. I lived, and died, in that incarnation. But the Gods felt I didn't belong there anymore. I am both a witch and a sorceress, the keeper of the Astral Stone. Never before has any kat ever been both. So they sent me away. They sent me _here_. Not reborn, but resurrected."

Now he knew it had to be real. No way could he have dreamed up _that _answer.

The she-kat smiled and walked over to him, then suddenly threw her arms around him and buried her face in his shoulder. Chance put his arms around her waist and held her close, as if he were afraid to let go, that she would be taken away from him again if he did.

Jake smiled at his two friends, very glad that they had been reunited again. Around his neck, the Astral Stone dimmed to a soft blue glow.

"It's good to have you back, Elena."

The she-kat looked up and over to her friend.

"Thanks, Jake. I'm glad to see your alive and well also."

"Heh, yeah. Thanks to you."

He still remember that she had sacrificed her own life to restore his when he had died. It was something he could never forget

It took about two days for things to return to some semblance of being 'normal'. The new Turbokat was working wonderfully, and with Elena back, they began working on a new optical monitoring system to install. This time, one sensor would also be placed with a full view of the cockpit, just in case. Jake and Chance had told Callie that Elena was 'gone', not that she had died. That made it a bit easier to explain that she had suddenly returned.

Elena was a bit restless. She had spent too long living as a bird, and wanted some semblance of 'life' back beyond simply working in the garage and on the jet. At around six in the afternoon the third day after her return, Elena put on a pair of dark blue jeans, her black boots, and her black leather jacket over a dark blue shirt. She was still putting on the fingerless gloves as she walked out of the bedroom.

Jake was working on something down in the hangar, but Chance, as usual, was upstairs watching his cartoons. He turned and gave her a curious, slightly worried expression when he saw her outfit. She gave him a reassuring look.

"I'm going out for a little while."

"You gonna be okay?"

"Yeah, I'm just going for a ride. No trouble, I promise."

She gave a sweet smile, then headed down the stairs into the garage.

Chance smiled back. He knew better. He knew that trouble always seemed to find _her_. Still, he turned and yelled down the stairs at her.

"Be careful!"

"Of course!"

The tabby shook as head as he heard the motorcycle's engine revving up. The bike then peeled out, _fast_.

Despite nearly two full decades of time passing, living another life, in another form, she still remembered all of her skills perfectly. She pushed the bike's speed, zigging easily through traffic at what would for most be completely reckless, but with her keen senses and sharp reflexes was simply enjoyment. She kept her mind open, searching for any Enforcer patrolkats watching out for speeders and dangerous drivers. Basically, who would be looking our for someone like _her_. Everything she felt herself approaching, she just turned down another side-street out of the way, or slowed quickly down until she passed out of sight, preferring the former if it were possible.

After a while, she came to an older part of town with far less traffic. The light ahead turned red so she slowed to an easy stop. About twenty seconds later, she heard a sound behind her. Another motorcycle. Elena turned her head around to see the black Katwasaki Ninja pull up right next to her at the light. The rider was obviously female, though the black helmet hid her face. She wore black combat boots, brown cargo pants, and a black leather jacket zipped fully up. The other she-kat revved her black bike, and glanced towards Elena. She grinned under her helmet's mask, revving her own bike even louder. No words were said, but the silent agreement had been reached. As soon as the light turned green, both bikes jerked up onto their back wheels, and spun off hard.

Elena opened the throttle, increasing her bike's speed. The other motorcycle was obviously well maintained. They both pushed the speed up to over 130 mph down the nearly empty street. Elena knew she could go faster, but she wanted to see what this other she-kat was capable of first. She increased again. 142. The other bike easily kept pace. Ahead, the street suddenly dropped down a hill. Both bikes shot over the hill and into the air. The black motorcycle came down first, then Elena's right behind. As soon as she hit the ground, she jerked her bike up and increased the speed a little more. They had both cleared over four miles in a _very _short amount of time.

Elena forgot to pay attention, until it was too late. Both she-kats looked behind them at the sound of the siren. The Enforcer cruiser pulled out quickly from the side-street where it was concealed behind the tall buildings, it's lights flashing.

'Aw crud...'

They both slowed down, and pulled over right next to each other. The cruiser pulled up behind them and Elena looked to the other she-kat, who put down the kick-stand on her bike, not even bothering to shut off the engine, and just leaned back calmly. Elena grumbled to herself as she turned her own bike off and removed her helmet, shaking out her long sooty-black hair. Behind them, the two street cops got out of their cruiser and began to approach the she-kats.

When they were about three yards away, the other she-kat finally removed her helmet, shaking out her own raven hair to just below her shoulders. Elena noticed she had a pair of white tufts in front of her ears similar to her own red ones, though Elena kept hers braided. The two Enforcers froze in place, staring. Elena swore she saw one of them mouth the words 'Oh shit.' The other she-kat turned and smiled to the two cops.

"Is there a problem, Officers?"

"Uhh.. yes Lieutenant. Do you realize exactly how fast you and your friend were going?"

Elena jerked her head to the other she-kat in surprise. She was also an Enforcer?

"Actually the speedometer in this thing isn't working too well. And anyway, this is the only open stretch to blow out the new exhaust filter. I needed to make sure this thing's working properly in case I end up on a call."

"Uhh... well... yes ma'am, but you _do _realize you're still not supposed to do that on city streets?"

"So I was supposed to go all the way out to the desert, about two plus hours away, for a ten minute test run?"

"Lieutenant, your uncle.."

"Knows that I've been working hard on getting this thing tuned up, and knows that I took it out for a test ride! Got that, Officer?"

"Uh, yes ma'am! But, you're friend..."

"Was ridding with me just in case anything happened."

"Yes ma'am!"

Both Enforcers quickly jumped back in their car and drove off. The she-kat laughed.

Elena was dumbfounded.

"Lieutenant?"

The she-kat turned to her and smiled.

"Lt Felina Feral."

"Feral? Any relation to Commander Feral?"

"Yeah, he's my uncle. You know him?"

"No. Just know of him. My boyfriend's an ex-Enforcer."

"Really? Anyone I may know?"

"Not sure. Chance Furlong."

"Heard of him. He and his partner 'left' the force a few years before I joined it."

Elena nodded, noting the Lieutenant's choice of words.

"And you are?"

"Elena Kougré."

"Nice to meet you, Elena." She gave a soft laugh. "So where'd you learn to ride like that? You're pretty damned good."

She just shrugged. "Ex-military. Had extensive training on a variety of vehicles."

"Military? Where?"

"Mind if we talk elsewhere? I'd kinda like to get a drink after that little episode."

Felina laughed. "No problem. I know a good bar not too far from here."

Putting their helmets back on, the two she-kats sped off again down the road, going a bit closer to the actual speed limit this time.

It was about eight or so when Elena and Felina pulled up outside the small bar. It was a fairly clean place with only a few patrons, most of whom obviously knew the Lieutenant. Elena guessed they were also off-duty Enforcers. Felina led the way up to the bar and the bartender pulled out a bottle of beer without even her asking.

"Here you go, Lieutenant. And you miss?"

"Karona with lime."

The bartender nodded and pulled out the bottle, popping off the cap with the claw of his thumb and placing a small slice of lime into the top of the bottle.

"Here you go."

Felina placed a five on the bar before Elena could even take her bottle.

"On me."

"Huh?"

Felina grinned. "Hey, you might've actually beat me in that little race. That's one Hell of a bike you got. Custom?"

She smiled back at the tan-furred she-kat. "Thanks. And yes, designed and built it myself."

The two then made their way over to a nearby empty table. Felina popped off the cap of her bottle with a claw and took a few gulps before setting the beer on the table. "You said ex-military. Where?"

"Long story. And too damned much red-tape involved for me to really say much. Needless to say I have _no _plans on ever going back."

Elena made a mental note to make up her own "file" on her megacomp later, should this Enforcer decide to attempt confirmation on her story.

"Really? And why is that?"

"I got sick of all the shit. All my jets and weapons were being used to kill other kats with, and I wanted nothing more to do with it."

"Your jets and weapons?" This really got Felina's attention.

Elena just shrugged casually. "Yeah. Aeronautics engineer and weapons designer. I designed, built, and test-flew military aircraft, as well as their weapon's systems."

"Flew? You're a pilot too?"

"Sort-of. Had a problem with the test-run of my most recent aircraft, and that's when I decided to leave."

"And you won't go back?"

"_Hell _no."

"I see. So how long have you been in Megakat City?"

"Not long. Only a couple months now."

"You got a job yet?"

"Kinda. I'm helping Chance and Jake out with their garage at the old salvage yard."

"Ever consider becoming an Enforcer?"

"No. I've had enough with that line of work."

"Just out of curiosity, what was your rank?"

She had to smile at that one. "Captain."

Felina leaned back in her chair and gave a soft laugh.

"So you outranked me then. Nice."

She just shrugged again. "What can I say? Could have made Major had I stayed, but after that little incident with my prototype jet, that was it."

"What exactly happened?"

"As I said, too damned much red-tape."

The two she-kats spend another two hours in the bar talking and getting to know each other. It's clear they had a lot in common and were on their way to becoming friends. Eventually Elena looked over to the clock on the wall.

"Crud. After ten. I should probably get going. I know Chance is gonna start wondering where I am." She smirked. "For some reason, he seems to think I might end up getting into trouble if I'm gone too long."

"Amazing how guys always seem to think that, like we can't take care of ourselves!"

She had to laugh. "Oh he knows I can take care of myself. And _that's _the problem!"

Felina also laughed as she stood up. "Gotcha. My uncle's the same way!"

They left the empty bottles on the table and headed back out to their motorcycles. Felina turned her's on and revved up the engine.

"So you're heading towards the salvage yard, right?"

"Yeah."

"Well, my apartment's that direction, mind if I ride with you for a bit further?"

"Of course not."

They both put their helmets on and kicked up the stands on their bikes. The two motorcycles turned and headed off down the street, at a steady clip of about 50 mph in the 35 zone, Felina taking the lead and setting the pace.

They had only gone a few miles when a sudden sound caused both of them to quickly jerk the bikes to a skidding stop. Both she-kats pulled off their helmets and looked towards a nearby 24/7 convenience store. Not taking her eyes from the store, Felina spoke softly to Elena.

"Did you hear that too?"

"Yeah. A gun shot."

"Right."

They quickly pulled their bikes off the street and ran around to the alley behind the store. Felina pulled out a pair of guns, tossing one to Elena.

"You _do _remember how to use one of those, right?"

In one swift motion, Elena unclicked the safety and cocked the gun, loading a round into the chamber. "Yes."

"Good. Then cover me."

They both moved quickly to the store's back door and Felina checked the handle. Locked.

"Ready?"

Elena nodded, holding the gun facing up, her back against the wall on the opposite side of the door as Felina.

Felina turned and kicked the door hard, causing it to fly inward, bending the hinges. Felina went in first, gun aimed, and Elena quickly followed. Seventy years had passed since Elena was actually in the military, but it was the same as her computer and mechanical skills. They were still as sharp as if she had just left. She may have been an engineer, but she could still use weapons just as well as she could build them. She had also been required to take a course of Special Forces training to continue her work, should she ever have to go into the field with her highly specialized weaponry. Felina checked the right side of the back storage room while Elena checked the left. They kept their voices low, trying not to be heard in the store outside.

"Clear."

"Clear!"

Elena's ears suddenly twitched towards the other door. "Crud! Down!"

She and Felina both ducked behind some boxes just as a tall but skinny kat burst through the door holding a gun.

"Who's there? I _know _I heard somethin'!"

A voice called from the store itself.

"Anyone back there?"

"Don't see no-one! Back door's kicked in!"

Felina suddenly stood up, her gun pointed straight at the other kat.

"Enforcers! You're under arrest! Drop the gun!"

She then quickly ducked back down as the kat fired two shots at her. He would have fired move, but was hit from behind and thrown forward onto the ground, the gun flying out of his hand. A knee came down hard between his shoulder blades, pinning him down as a hand grabbed his wrist and jerked his arm behind his back. He felt the barrel of another gun against his neck, and heard the voice of another female.

"Don't move!"

Felina tossed Elena a pair of handcuffs from one of her pockets and ran to the door. The other kat was bolting out the front door of the store.

"I'm in pursuit!"

Elena quickly tucked the gun into the waistline of her jeans and placed one end of the cuffs on the skinny kat's wrist, then stood and jerked him up and over to a nearby pipe. Checking that it was strong enough in case the crook tried to break loose, she connected the other end too it, securing the kat. Drawing the gun again and holding it with the barrel pointed at the ground, she ran quickly after Felina.

The other kat was considerably overweight and didn't get very far at all. He didn't even make it as far the door to the next store when the female Enforcer tackled him. He may not have been fast, but he was a big kat and even she had a hard time holding him down.

"DON'T MOVE!"

The kat somehow managed to throw Felina off of him and got back up to try and run again. This time however, he turned around to find the barrel of a gun staring him in the face about two feet away. Elena glared at the kat with her ears pinned.

"I believe you were told not to move."

Felina quickly grabbed one of the kat's thick wrists and hooked on a handcuff. With the gun pointed at him, in the hands of the pissed-off she-kat, he didn't even bother trying to fight back anymore as his other hand was brought behind his back and cuffed. Once the kat-scum was secure, Felina led him back toward the store. Elena turned and ran back ahead of them. Felina gave her a curious look as she ran past.

"Where are you going?"

"Didn't you see the clerk?"

"No?"

"Exactly!"

Felina then realized what she was so concerned about. They had stopped because they heard a gunshot. The first kat was armed, and neither of them saw the clerk anywhere in the store. She then heard the other she-kat yell from inside the store.

"Call an ambulance!"

It took less than three minutes for the first pair of Enforcer cruisers to pull up outside the store, and another six for the ambulance to arrive. Felina and Elena had the two criminals secured, and Elena was now putting pressure on the store-kat's shoulder to try and stifle the bleeding. She was right, he had been shot. Once the paramedics got there she told them that it was a through and through with nothing vital hit. They assumed she was a plain-clothed or off-duty Enforcer like Felina, and so immediately took over putting pressure on the kat's wounds without asking any questions. He was quickly put onto the stretcher and loaded into the ambulance without a word.

Of course, the other Enforcers had some questions, but Felina answered everything. Once the on-duty officers took over, Felina and Elena headed back over to their bikes across the street. Felina smiled at her new friend.

"You _sure _you don't want to join the Enforcers? _Captain_?"

Elena gave a soft smile and she mounted her motorcycle.

"As I said, I've had enough with this line of work."

"Somehow, I doubt that."

The two she-kats put their helmets back on, and sped off again down the dark streets.

It was around midnight when the silver motorcycle drove through the salvage yard up to the garage. Aries lifted his head at the noise, then just lay back down again when he saw it was his owner, going back to sleep. Once she had the bike parked and had relocked the door, she headed up the stairs and into the bedroom.

Chance was lying in bed, partially awake now due to the noise of her motorcycle. He looked sleepily up at her as she entered the room and tossed her jacket over onto a chair.

"Okay, you were out _way _too long not to have gotten into any trouble."

She glared at him playfully.

"Hey! It sounds as if you don't trust me?"

He smiled. "I _know _you better than that! So, what happened?"

She sat down on the edge of the bed and removed her boots.

"Maybe in the morning I'll hack into the Enforcer records and let you read the report."

Chance groaned and slapped a hand over his face. Maybe he _didn't _want to know!

Elena gave a soft playful laugh and climbed over the bed, kissing him on the nose.

He opened his eyes again and gave her an amused look. Whatever had happened, at least it sounded as if she had enjoyed herself, and there were no obvious injuries on her either. At least for that he was grateful.

"Brat."

She still had a teasing smile.

"Would you have me any other way?"

"_No_."

"Didn't think so."

[Hope you enjoyed this little short story, the first of the _Dragonfly Saga_. More to come!]

[Next Installment: _Within the Shadows_; Strange killings begin to happen throughout the city. Jake and Elena can both sense something, but can't figure out quite what. Jake believes it is another werekat, but Elena can't sense any magic that would have summoned or controlled it. As the killings get worse, the SWAT Kats must again face one of the toughest creatures they've ever head to deal with. Only this time, there is no master to control it! ]


	2. Within the Shadows

**Within the Shadows**

Jim Rexmoore slowly opened his eyes. He had that sour metallic taste in his mouth again. He groaned as he carefully sat up. It had happened again! Slowly, the tan-furred kat got up out of the bed, grabbing a fresh pair of pants, and walked to the bathroom. Flecks of dark red/brown coloration stained the fur around his mouth and on his hands. The kat looked at himself in the mirror. A few weeks ago, he would have been terrified at the what he saw in the reflection. Now he was starting to get used to it.

The kat turned on the water faucet and began to splash his face. The flecks mixed with the water and began to liquefy, rinsing out of his fur. Once most of it was rinsed out, he then brushed his teeth to try and get rid of the taste. It was Saturday so he didn't have to worry about going to work today. Now at least partially clothed, he dried the fur of his face and hands, then walked into the kitchen. He wasn't hungry of course. He'd had plenty to eat during the night. But he was thirsty. Grabbing a glass, he filled it with milk, then walked into the living room of his small apartment.

Jim sat down on the sofa and grabbed his remote control, turning on the tv. Flipping channels, he came to the news station. Ann Gorra was on, talking about yet another murder last night.

"Yep. It happened again. Wonder who the poor bastard was this time?"

He took a sip of the milk as he calmly watched the report.

**.**

Elena sat at her megacomp. She had seen the report on the news and had decided to look at the actual Enforcer's report. The scenes were way too familiar, but they were also a bit different as well. Jake climbed down the ladder into the hangar and walked over to her.

"Another one?"

She nodded, not taking her eyes from the large monitor.

"Yep. A few blocks from the last one. No real pattern, but a definite 'territory'."

"Around 2 am?"

She turned to regard her friend.

"How'd you know?"

He shook his head slowly.

"Felt it."

"Ouch. Sorry, Jake. Magic does have it's downsides."

"No kidding. So, is it a werekat?"

She turned back to the monitor.

"Not sure. All the signs are there, but it's too sloppy."

"Sloppy? I thought all those things do is kill?"

"They do, but this one's different. The corpses are never fully eaten. It's too messy. When a werekat hunts, it either kills multiple victims, killing quickly so it can move on to more, or only kills one victim and feeds on the entire corpse. This appears to have been a feeding hunt, but it wasn't fully eaten. I don't get it."

"But there's no magic involved? We would have felt if there was, right?"

She nodded again.

"Unless we were being blocked, yes. But I know that we're not. My power's strong enough that I would feel it if we were."

"Could this one have been sent here, but then left with no directions?"

She shook her head.

"No. This is a partial change. Like mine. No sorcerer created this werekat. It was bitten, then turned. Whoever this guy is, he's a resident of Megakat City. And therefor going to be very difficult to find. _If _it even is a werekat. I'm still not sure."

"Okay, so any ideas on _how _to find it?"

"Yeah. I think we should do a sweep tonight around midnight. You guys take the jet and use the infrared sensors. Even if it isn't a werekat, it should be large enough to read out quite well. Provided it's warm-blooded, that is."

"And you?"

He had a feeling that he already knew what she was planning to do, but he wanted to confirm it.

"I'm going to check out the location and see if I can find anything. Everything seems to be happening in a nine-block radius, with this one exception."

She pulled up a map on the screen, and several red dots appeared on it. Most were clustered near the eastern edge of the city, except for one that was more toward downtown.

"That one was the least 'consumed'. It didn't seem like a feeding hunt, but it wasn't simple bloodshed either. Some corpses are mostly consumed, others are brutally murdered. I think some of these were _targeted_. And the time frame's strange. Four in the first week, then three weeks with only two. Now, in the past week and a half, there's been six. And this started a few days after..."

"Yeah. The first one was two days later."

None of the three kats could really talk about what had happened almost six weeks ago. Though it had only been an hour in their own world, they were gone for nearly two months. Jake and Chance had returned, but Elena had not. She had died. Technically, so had Jake, but Elena sacrificed herself to bring him back. It was a painful memory that all three would rather just put in the past and keep it there.

Elena sighed and leaned back in her computer chair.

"The time frame's strange. I just don't get it..."

He decided to change the subject.

"So, what exactly were you working on yesterday, anyway? You were down here almost all day?"

She had to smirk at that one.

"I'll show both you and Chance tomorrow once I'm finished. Where is he anyway?"

"Heh. It's only 6:30 am. Where do you think?"

The she-kat laughed. Of course he was still asleep!

**.**

Lieutenant Felina Feral sat at her desk working on the computer. Her shift was almost over and she had spent most of the day working on the newest murder case. This was definitely some sort of serial killer, but there were also too many similaritys to the killings done by that large monster that had attacked the city several months ago. Felina remembered all too well the amount of carnage wrought by the creature, and how nothing the Enforcers could do was able to stop it. Thankfully, the SWAT Kats managed to find a way to kill the creature, although numerous lives had been lost beforehand.

With a sigh, Felina finally closed out the file. She'd work on it more on Monday. A thought then occurred to her, and she opened the Megakat City population search database. Felina typed in the name of the kat she was looking for.

"Nothing?"

There were no records on the kat at all. Nothing even close. She decided to do a wider search. Still, nothing. Felina leaned back in her chair and thought about the unusual she-kat she had met a few nights ago. The kat had claimed to be ex-military from a completely different government, far from Megakat City. She also had claimed to have left because she had 'had enough'. The she-kat was very athletic, obviously trained in martial arts and law enforcement/military tactics, could handle a gun with ease, and could easily keep her cool under pressure. Felina really liked the kat, but kept getting the feeling there was a lot more to the story. 'Too damned much red-tape'. That's what the she-kat had said.

Felina shut down the computer and picked up her files. Before ending her shift, she decided to head down to the computer research lab. Entering, she looked around for a particular kat. She found him sitting at his desk working furiously at the computer's keyboard. Felina walked over to the kat, speaking casually.

"Hey Peter. I got a favor to ask you."

The kat looked up from his computer, adjusting his large-framed glasses.

"Oh, hello Lt Feral. What do you need? Something to do with this morning's murder?"

"No, not that. Actually, I need you to run some information on someone. Ex-military. I don't know what government, but I'm certain it's not ours."

"What makes you say that?"

"Very faint, but she did have a slight accent. Appearance was a bit different too. Finer features, slightly rounded ears, tuft on the end of the tail. And she claims to have only bee in Megakat City about seven months now. Said she 'left' and never plans to return."

"You got the file?"

Felina handed the technician a single piece of paper. All it was, was a hand-written description of the she-kat along with some notes about what Felina was told about her past.

"'Captain' huh? And no clue what government? Hmm... aeronautics and weapons designer... special forces training...combat jet pilot... And you couldn't find _anything _on this person? Sounds like Black Op's to me. You think she might be a spook?"

Felina shrugged.

"I doubt it. I didn't get the feeling she was lying about anything. She seems to be pretty honest and trustworthy. You know how suspicious I can get, yet I couldn't find anything at fault with her."

"So why the interest then?"

"Just curious."

"Heh, you know what they say, Lieutenant. 'Curiosity killed the kat'."

"Yeah, I know. But in this line of work, not being curious can get you killed too."

"True enough. Okay, I'll get on this as soon as I get time."

"Thanks a lot, Peter. I'm heading out now."

"Okay. Good night, Lieutenant."

**.**

Elena ducked under the yellow crime scene tape and into the alley. It was dark, but her eyes adjusted quickly to take in even the faintest traces of light. The remains of the body had been removed earlier in the day, but the sanitation team wasn't schedualed to begin work until the morning. She knelt down next to where the corpse had been, looking at the day-old dried blood. More specifically, at the splatter. Placing a hand to her right ear, she switched on the small earpiece and pulled the mini-mic extension out.

"Guys, do you read me?"

She immediately heard T-Bone's voice through the earpiece.

"We're here, beautiful. What'd you find?"

"Blood splatter confirms my suspicions. This kat was hit multiple times, from different angles. Whatever did this, appeared to have had something against the guy. It wasn't just simple slaughter. It was a vicious murder. It was _personal_."

Razor spoke next.

"Infrared sensors arn't picking up anything unusual within a four block radius of your location."

Elena glanced up as she heard the soft roar of the engines well overhead, and caught a faint glimpse of the black jet fly past.

"Didn't expect them too. It'll probably be another night or two before whatever this was strikes again. The attacks appear to be random, but I'm thinking there might be at least some semblance of a pattern."

T-Bone spoke up again.

"Such as?"

She stood up slowly and looked down the alley.

"Whatever did this seems to have at least _some _idea of what it's doing. I think some victims are targeted, while others are just in the wrong place at the wrong time."

Razor was still looking at his scanner as he responded.

"What makes you think that? Is there a difference in some of the attacks?"

"Yes. The first seven were more fully devoured than the others, with less splatter. However, four of the last five are less eaten, but with far more splatter. This one included. I think whatever did this was attacking randomly at first, began to gain control of itself, and is now targeting victims."

Something further down the alley caught her attention. Pulling out a flashlight, she slowly walked forward. She then heard T-Bone again over the communicator.

"So, what you're saying, is that whatever this thing is, it couldn't control itself at first, but now can, and is attacking for vengeance?"

"Something like that. I'm beginning to think it might _be _a werekat afterall. I'm sure you remember that I had no control at first, but now I have complete control over both my changing and my actions. If this is a werekat, he's learning to take control, but still hasn't quite gotten there yet. Hang on. Scratch that, it _is _a werekat."

"Huh? How can you be sure?"

"Because I'm holding the proof in my hand."

She had caught the faint scent earlier and had now found what she was looking for. A tiny piece of flesh and tan fur on the corner of a broken piece of glass with a small blood smear. Apparently, whenever the creature passed by, it didn't notice the glass and cut itself on it.

"Proof? What proof?"

She turned and ran back out of the alley towards her bike.

"I'll show you back at base. I'm on my way now. Out."

Gunning the engine, she shut off the earpiece and pushed the mic back in, then put her helmet on and took off fast down the dark city streets.

**.**

By the time Elena made it back to the salvage yard, she found the small door that lead down to the hanger already open. The door was almost invisible when closed, like the main hanger door for the jet, but this smaller one was designed for use with their other vehicles, mainly the cyclotrons and the Thundertruck. Elena drove her bike through the door and down the steep ramp, the door closing behind her.

She brought the motorcycle to a stop and shut off the engine. Taking off her helmet, she set it on the seat and walked over to the SWAT Kats, who were already back and waiting for her. They were both curious to see what'd she found to confirm that it was a werekat, especially T-Bone.

"So? What'd you find?"

"This." She pulled out the small scrap of skin and fur. "Smell's unmistakable. Definitely a werekat. Now here's the big question. Is there anyone you can trust to run a DNA recognition on this?"

Razor took the scrap and looked, first at it, then back at the she-kat curiously.

"Why? If it is a werekat, wouldn't that mean it's DNA has been altered so a recognition wouldn't be possible?"

She shook her head.

"All the genetic markers are the same, with only a few minor exception. It'll still be close enough for a decent match."

Razor thought about it for a moment.

"Dr. Conway is pretty good at genetics. The problem is that his lab is _in_ the Enforcer headquarters. That means trying to convince Feral to help us with this one. I'd have to go with Dr. Zyme then at Megakat Biochemical labs. Of course, you _do _realize that, unless this guy's DNA is already in the system, it really won't do us a lot of good."

"But with the right genetic recognition system, it'll at the very least help to narrow down the search."

T-Bone shook his head.

"Even if it does narrow it down, it's still a LOT to search. There's several million kats in Megakat City."

"Yes, but all the attacks are in that same 9-block radius. And the one exception I'm certain was targeted. If we can narrow down the search, it shouldn't be too difficult. Especially now that we have this sample. And the sooner the better. I'd give it another night or two before this thing goes out hunting again."

It was already close to 2 am so the kats decided to call it a night. In the morning, they'd put in the call to Dr. Zyme.

**.**

It was about ten in the morning when the silver motorcycle pulled up in front of Megakat Biochemical labs. The green sedan was already parked out front as well. Elena met up with Callie, and the two she-kats were led into the building and to Dr. Zyme's lab. The biologist looked up as the two she-kats entered.

"Ah, Miss Briggs. Good to see you again. I only wish it were under better circumstances."

He then turned to regard the other she-kat.

"And you must be Miss Kougré? The SWAT Kats said you were the one who found the sample?"

Elena nodded and pulled the small canister out of a pocket inside her jacket, handing it to Zyme. He took the canister and walked over to a lab table. Carefully, he opened the canister, releasing a small hiss of gas, then pulled the plastic bag out of the cold interior with a pair of tongs.

"I'm curious Miss Kougré, how did you find this? And how did the SWAT Kats find out about it?"

She just shrugged casually. "I'm former military, so it's in my nature to investigate things. Plus, I've had a bit of experience with this. As for the SWAT Kats, that's Callie's doing. They said you could be discreet about this?"

"_Very _discreet," added Callie.

"Of course. I'm guessing that means the Enforcers don't know that you are also investigating this?"

"Correct."

Zyme nodded as he carefully removed the sample with a pair of surgical tongs and placed it into a sterile petri dish. He then carefully cut away a tiny sample of the flesh and placed it into a tube, adding a small amount of saline solution. He then repeated with four more small pieces. It took about ten minutes to process the pieces and separate DNA particles for examination from the skin's cells. The two she-kats waited patiently as Zyme worked. He ran two samples through his mass spectrometer, and another he analyzed with computer magnification. The other two he set aside in the refrigerator for the time being. Eventually, he pulled up an image on the large monitor and motioned to the she-kats.

"This is a very interesting sample. It is about 99.986% normal kat, but with a few very minor differences. Mutations, but nothing like what we've seen in the past from Dr. Viper's creations."

Elena nodded.

"I expected as much. This isn't an actual 'mutation' in the same sense."

Zyme regarded the she-kat with a bit of confusion.

"You _know _what this is?"

"As I said, I've experience with it before. Do you remember that creature from about four months ago that the Enforcers couldn't stop, and even one of the SWAT Kats' explosive missiles couldn't take it down?"

He thought for a moment.

"Yes. Some have referred to the creature as a 'werekat', but I'm certain it was some form of mutation."

"It _was _a werekat, Doctor. And I'm certain that so is this, but of a different type."

He was stunned.

"Then, if you know what it is, why do you need my help?"

Callie was the one who answered.

"Elena is the expert on this, but the SWAT Kats are the ones who need to find this thing. They may be the only ones capable of stopping it. We need you to try and find a DNA match of 'who' this could be."

"DNA match? You're thinking this thing is an actual citizen of Megakat City?"

Elena nodded calmly.

"I'm sure of it. As I said, it's of a different type than the first one. Those who are bitten, and survive, eventually turn into one too, but there are genetic differences to the original variety."

"I see. Well, I can run the DNA, but unless it's in any system, then it's still not going to be any help."

"What about phenotypes?"

"Of course! By extracting the genotypes and phenotypes from the DNA code, we can at least get some idea of what this kat looks like. It will take me several hours though. Would you like me to contact you with the results?"

Elena glanced at Callie, who answered.

"Email me the results please, Dr. Zyme. I'll pass it on to the SWAT Kats."

"Of course, Miss Briggs."

Zyme then began the lengthy process of trying to unravel the werekat's genetic code, while Callie and Elena left. Once outside of the building, Elena walked over to her Motorcycle. Callie regarded the other she-kat.

"Elena, I have to ask. Exactly how _do _you know about these creatures?"

Elena's voice was soft and sedate. She looked down, not meeting Callie's eyes.

"Delt with them before. When that first one attacked, there was a second sent to kill me. That first one was a distraction to lure the guys away."

The blond she-kat gasped.

"It _knew _were you were?"

She nodded.

"It could track me. But," she now looked up, a cold determination on her face, "I'm hoping that this time, _I_ will be able to track down _this _one."

"I think I'll stop by later. I'd like to know more about this creature and how you three delt with it."

"Alright. I'll let the guys know to expect you."

"You won't be there?"

"I've got work to do."

With that, she put her helmet on and revved up the engine on her bike, then peeled off down the street.

**.**

Jim hated to work on Sundays. It was usually pretty dull and most of the customers tended to be obnoxious teenagers. As he clocked in, he could almost feel the manager's glare boring into his back.

"You're late, Rexmoore! You were supposed to be here almost a half hour ago!"

Jim calmly turned to face the angry she-kat. Linda was standing with her hands on her hips, claws extended. Even angry, Jim couldn't help but admire how pretty she was. Of course, she also had a strong temper, especially when it came to running the book store.

"Sorry, Linda. Wasn't feeling too good this morning."

"Then you should have at least called! I've already lost two employees in the past two weeks! I can't afford to have people come in late!"

"Two? What happened to Ronnie?"

Linda's expression suddenly changed, her tone softened.

"You didn't hear? He was killed the other night. Well, the Enforcers didn't actually release the info, so I guess you wouldn't have heard. His girlfriend called me last night in absolute tears. She and his mom had to go identify the possessions found with the body. Wasn't even enough remains left to identify that way."

Jim pretended to be affected by the news.

"Aw man. First Allison disappears, then Ronnie gets killed. This is getting to be a real dangerous neighborhood with that murderer out there."

"Yeah, that's why we're going to start closing early until the Enforcers get this psycho off the streets."

Her mood now seriously changed, the she-kat turned and walked back to her desk in the small office. Jim casually went to the store-room and grabbed a box of new arrivals, hauling it out to the store front. Using one claw, he opened the box and took a look at the invoice.

"Alright! The new graphic novels are in..."

Ignoring his downtrodden coworkers, he began stocking and re-arranging the books on the shelves. 'So, it was Ronnie. Well, the jerk had it coming. Now I don't have to worry about any more of his stupid "pranks".' The tan kat began to whistle softly to himself as he went about his job.

**.**

It was around mid-afternoon when the green sedan pulled up to the front of the garage. The dog, Aries, ran up to the car with his tail wagging. Callie got our and gave the dog a light pat, then walked inside. Even though the garage was closed, the office door had been left unlocked.

"Hello? Anyone here?"

"Yeah. Up here, Miss Briggs."

Chance walked down the stairs from the upper apartment. Since the garage was closed today, he didn't wear the usual coveralls she was used to seeing him and Jake in. He instead had on brown cargo pants, a gray tank-top, and black combat boots. There was no doubt that the well-built kat used to be an Enforcer.

"Jake and Elena are down in the hangar. Hang on a sec."

He walked past her to the office door and locked it, then led the way to the hidden hatch. They were now a lot more comfortable with the fact that Callie knew their secret. Chance opened the hatch and stood back.

"There's a small ladder. Watch your step."

Callie was surprised. This was the first time they even showed her the entrance to the secret hangar, and now she was supposed to actually go _inside _of it? Carefully, the she-kat climbed down into the hatch, being careful that her high-heeled shoes didn't slip on the metal ladder as she descended. As soon as she touched ground, she moved aside so that Chance could also climb down, closing the hatch behind him. Callie looked around the large room in surprise. It wasn't quite what she'd expected. She saw Jake and Elena nearby, at a very large pair of computers. They hadn't even seemed to notice her yet. Chance led the way over to the other two kats.

As Callie approached she noticed the small mp3 player and mini-speakers sitting on the desk next to the larger computer's keyboard. The music was on low, but was playing some older techno music. She smirked slightly, wondering exactly who's player it was. Jake glanced back at her and smiled as she and Chance approached.

"Hey, Callie. What do you think?"

She looked around again, then smiled back to the ginger kat.

"This place is incredible! You guys _built _this?"

He shook his head.

"We built everything inside of it, but the hanger itself was already here. An old depot from Mega War II. Just about everyone had completely forgotten about it, but we had managed to stumble onto it by accident while fixing up the garage when we first got here."

Elena spoke up, though she didn't turn her eyes away from the monitor.

"Did you get the report from Zyme?"

"Yes, I've got it right here."

She opened her briefcase and pulled out the file, handing it to Jake. He opened it and flipped through the printed-out pages from the email. Pulling one out, he set it down next to Elena's keyboard. The dark she-kat stopped her typing for a moment to look at the page. After a few brief moments, she went back to typing on the computer. A map of the city was pulled up, with several red dots on it.

"Okay, so here are all of our attacks. This is the search area. We now have a better idea of _who _we're looking for. Male, mid-thirties, light built, tan fur, red hair, blue eyes, possibly glasses from an eye problem..."

Chance leaned on the back of the computer chair, looking over her shoulder.

"That's still a lot to search. It's not like we can just go door to door looking for this guy."

"You guys, no. Me and Aries..."

Callie looked at her in confusion.

"You're taking the dog?"

Elena nodded.

"I tried him out with a bit of tracking and location searches earlier today. He's pretty good. I've kept a small sample of the werekat's fur to give him a scent to work with."

This came as a bit of a surprise to the blond she-kat. With the increasing amount of technology, using canines for field work had become almost obsolete. Dogs were little more than pets anymore. The music on the mp3 changed from techno to latin, and Callie noticed Elena's paw tapping lightly to the beat. Now she knew who's player it was.

Chance pinned his ears at the music, looking down to Elena.

"How do you listen to that?"

"I enjoy all kinds of music, thank you. Besides, I know several languages, including this one."

Chance just sighed and shook his head with a slight smile. She never ceased to amaze him. Callie giggled slightly and Jake also smiled at the comment.

Elena then switched the program on her computer.

"There's something else I want to show you guys. Callie, it's probably best if you never get the full truth, but I know others are going to start wondering about me. So, after my conversation with Lieutenant Feral a few nights ago, I decided to work this up."

She pulled up an official-looking government profile page. There was no photo, no fingerprint info, and all the personal information was marked as "unknown" or "deleted". Callie's jaw dropped at seeing the only real piece of information. The name. "Elena Kougré, Captain"

"You _made _your own military file? So... you never _were _a military weapons designer?"

"Oh, I was. The majority of what I told you was all true. The only difference, is that it wasn't on _this _world. When I said that I was _not _from anywhere near here, I was dead serious. I'm not going to go into what happened, but the guys saved my life, and brought me back here to make a new life for myself."

She smiled gently at Chance as she said the last part.

Several years ago, Callie wouldn't have believed her story. But now, after everything else between the Pastmaster, Dr Viper, MadKat, and many of the other strange things that have happened, she couldn't _not _believe it.

"So you had to come up with a background for yourself in this world, that matches your previous life? But still, someone who sees this is going to want to dig deeper."

The darker-furred she-kat nodded.

"As expected. There's a _considerable _amount of encryptions surrounding this. It'll take a pretty good amount of work just to get this far. But a good hacker could get _this _if he dug deep enough."

She typed in another set of commands, and the screen changed. It still didn't have a picture, or even the name of the government/military service, but did have a bit more military information. Special combat tactics training, aerial combat training, special weapons training, aeronautics and weapons designer, mechanical engineer... All the more personal information was still blank. Date and location of birth, parents, next of kin... all were 'deleted' or 'unknown' information. Also, there was still no fingerprints or identifying information. Jake and Chance both looked at the red lettering near the bottom of the screen. Chance was the one who spoke up.

"Black Op's?"

"Can you think of a better reason for all this information to be so classified that no-one can even figure out which government it is?"

He shook his head. That was about as 'dark' as it could get without her being an outright assassin. Jake continued to read over the information, or lack there-of.

"Status, M.I.A.?"

She nodded.

"Technically, that's true. I'm sure my real file either says that, or 'deserted'. Though worse is still possible, but I think this is the best course for here."

Callie also looked over the false personnel file. It was actually very well done.

"On thing though. If your making it look like you don't want to be found, you're not very secretive about it, like hiding certain details?"

Elena gave a slight smirk.

"Sometimes, the best way to hide something, _is _right out in the open. The more I try to cover up, the more suspicious people are going to get."

**.**

Monday was usually a calmer day for the Enforcers. Felina got to work a little early that morning so she could take a side trip down to the computer lab. Peter waved her over as soon as he saw her enter. The she-kat walked over to him.

"Found anything?"

"Oh yes. Girl's a ghost. She technically doesn't exist. Took a _lot _of work, but I finally managed to locate a highly encrypted file. And I was right. Black Op's."

He pulled up the file on the screen and sat back in his chair so that the Lieutenant could lean in for a closer look.

"Well, definitely looks like her story matches up with the file. Still no info on _who_ her former employers were. Hmm... M.I.A... Well, she said that she just left with no plans on returning. Too bad she doesn't want to work with us. Could be a real asset."

"Heh, yeah. Try to convince your _uncle _of that. One look at this file and he'd say 'not a chance in Hell'!"

"Well, I don't plan on him, or anyone, seeing this file. Get my drift?"

The technician smiled.

"Yes ma'am."

He hit a few keys, deleting all traces of the file from his computer.

**.**

Jim was leaning against the store counter reading one of the new comics that came in when he heard a vaguely familiar voice in a very sour tone.

"Still too busy reading those damned comics for free to pay attention to your customers, arn't you Jimmy."

It was said more of a statement than a question. Jim slowly lowered the comic and glared at the kat. He hated him, and he really hated being called 'Jimmy'.

"I only read them when I get the rare free time, and there _wasn't _any customers in here two seconds ago."

"Well there is now, so I suggest you get your tail in gear and get me my order!"

Linda's cousin always expected 'special treatment' since it was his cousin's store. And he seemed to take pleasure in down-talking the employees, especially Jim. Jim walked over to a large box behind the far end of the counter and began to look though the individual packages inside of it.

Linda's cousin huffed. "Any day now..."

Jim's ears went back, but he had to pretend that nothing was wrong by the time he stood up again, having found the package. He took it back to the register and opened it, scanning the bar codes on each of the three books.

"Don't forget the discount, dork!"

"That discount is for employees only."

"My cousin _owns _this store, or have you forgotten that? I guess your dumber than you look then, Jimmy, with those dorky glasses of yours."

Jim's fist clenched, and he could feel his own claws digging in.

'Get a hold of yourself, Jim. You can't change here. You can't let them find out. His time will come... _soon_.'

"Your cousin may be the owner, but it's still an employee discount."

"Which she said I still get! Now, do I have to call her on her lunch break to come explain that to you, moron?"

"No..." He really hated this guy, but he knew that Linda had said to give her cousin the discount in the past, and he definitely didn't want her to get a call from her the jerk bad-mouthing him on her lunch break. With a sigh of defeat, he added the discount, then the total.

"There. Now that wasn't so hard, was it?"

He paid for his books then quickly walked out of the store. Jimmy glared at the back of the other kat as he left.

'Tonight. This guy is gonna pay... _tonight!'_

**.**

Elena parked the tow-truck a few blocks away from the area which had been designated the 'center' of the murders. Getting out, she snapped her fingers once, and her large pet dog jumped out of the truck to sit by her right side.

"Alright Aries, let's see exactly what that nose of yours can do. I know that you know what a werekat smells like. Now find _this _one for me."

She held the small piece of fur down for the dog to sniff, then attached a long-leash to his leather collar.

"Alright. _Search_."

The rottie-mix had only been taught the command earlier that day, but he already knew what it meant. Wherever his master pointed, he was to 'search' for the scent she had given him. If he found any trace of it, he was to follow to it's source and alert her. Elena 'walked' the dog down the streets for several blocks, indicating every entrance-way into each building they passed. Most of the buildings were older, slightly run-down apartments. She had a strong feeling that the werekat lived around here, _somewhere_.

Even though the dog occasionally seemed to catch a trace of the scent, he would soon loose it again. Elena would occasionally comfort the dog so that he knew he was still doing good and wouldn't get bored or depressed. She had worked with military K9s and their handlers a few times on her birth-world and knew that they always had to feel they were succeeding, even if they never found anything.

The search lasted for nearly forty minutes. A few times she glanced up to a black shape silhouetted against the night sky fly past, high above. At length, she suddenly froze. Aries gave a soft yelp as his leash went suddenly taught. Through the small ear-piece in her right ear, it's mic hidden under her long hair, she heard Razor's voice.

"Elena? Did you feel that too?"

"Yeah, I did. He's 'hunting' tonight. And _close_."

There was a bit of concern in T-Bone's voice as he spoke next.

"Be careful down there, darlin'. I still say you should have at least brought your sword in case something happens where you can't shift forms."

"Heh. Bad enough I'm out in this neighborhood, 'walking' my dog, at this time of night. How would it look if I had a sword strapped to my hip as well?"

"That's beside the point. This thing's already taken a number of lives."

"I know. And that's why we've got to find it and stop... oh crud."

"What is it?"

"Can't talk. I've got company, and not the type I expected."

Even though she couldn't see the rider's face, Elena still recognized the black motorcycle as if drove quickly down the street, slowing down as it approached. Elena recalled Aries and knelt down beside the dog, reassuring him and making sure he remained calm and didn't try to act threateningly. The motorcycle pulled up to the curb and stopped, the engine still idling. The rider took off the helmet, shaking out her short black hair, and looked at the she-kat and dog.

"Elena?"

"Good evening, Lieutenant."

She faintly heard T-Bone's voice over the com.

"Oh crud."

Felina was still wearing her Enforcer uniform.

"What are you doing way out here this time of night? Don't you know what's been going on around here lately?"

She just shrugged calmly, though she also felt a slight tingling at the back of her mind. The dog seemed to notice something do, as he began to raise his hackles and look around with ears perked.

"I'm not too concerned. Aries is a fairly intimidating dog, so I'm not really worried about anyone trying to mess with me."

Felina eyed the large canine.

"Yeah, that is a pretty big dog. Even so, whoever this guy is, he's obviously a psycho and I don't think even your dog might scare him off, especially not if he's armed. And this is no-where near your own neighborhood."

Elena caught the tone in the Enforcer's voice. She knew where this line of questions and comments was leading. So did T-Bone and Razor as they listened in through the com link in their jet.

However, the questioning was quickly interrupted. Whether or not that was a good thing or a bad thing was fully debatable. A loud scream was heard a short distance away. Both she-kats and the dog took off running in the direction of the sound, Felina drawing her gun. As they rounded the corner into the alley, Felina froze in shock while Aries began barking and snarling savagely. Elena simply glared at the large beast in front of her, her own eyes taking on a faint green glow in the shadows.

The tan-furred werekat had the smaller kat by his throat. His paws dangling several feet in the air and he was gasping for breath. He was bleeding profusely from multiple lacerations, and it was quite obvious from the blood on the werekat's claws where the wounds had come from.

"Crud! Found it!"

Elena wasn't making the comment to Felina or even simply saying it out loud. She was yelling into the com hidden beneath her hair.

Snapping out of the momentary distraction, Felina now aimed her gun as the monster.

"Drop him, fuzzball!"

The werekat, it's eyes glowing a dark shade of green, turned it's head and snarled at the two she-kats and the dog. Elena quickly unhooked the leash from Aries' collar and yelled out the command: "_Hold 'im!_" Aries responded by making short mock-lunges, barking viciously, but not actually moving any closer to the large werekat. The beast roars at them, causing Felina to open fire. The bullets had no effect other than pissing the thing off. It threw the kat hard against the brick wall of the alley and charged them.

"Aries!"

The dog lunged at the werekat as Elena shoved Felina quickly out of the way.

"Come on! We've got to get out of here!"

"Are you nuts? We've got to stop this thing!"

"HOW?"

Felina suddenly realized that the other she-kat was right. She had seen another werekat kill several of her comrades four months ago. _Nothing _they could do could stop it. They had only one choice. Run!

Elena had trained Aries in how to handle larger opponents since the dog got thrown into a large pile of scrap and injured from the werekat that came after Jake. The dog weaved in and out, lunging at the werekat, taking small quick bites then jumping back away from the slashing claws. No more grabbing and holding like last time. And the dog definitely remembered last time. His distraction gave Elena and Felina a bit of a head start on the werekat, but it gave up on the dog and began to chase them on all fours, gaining ground _fast_.

"We've got to get to higher ground!"

Elena looked around and spotted a nearby fire escape, it's ladder just low enough for them to grab with a good jump.

"There!"

She jumped up first and climbed quickly. To her relief, the Enforcer was right behind her. They quickly climbed to the top of the four-story building. The problem was that the buildings around it were all taller, and there was no other way off the roof. Felina pinned her ears.

"Great! Now we're trapped!"

She then leaned over the edge, and saw the werekat beginning to climb up after them! The dog was running back and forth at the base of the building, barking loudly. Something then occurred to the Lieutenant and she spun around to shoot Elena a fierce look.

"You said 'found it". You _knew _about this thing?"

She shrugged, her eyes scanning the sky. "Delt with them in the past. They're not exactly from here."

"You followed them to Megakat City?"

"No, they followed me, apparently. Thought I'd seen the last of them when I left again six weeks ago to 'deal' with the problem. This one's apparently been living here the whole time."

"Great. So, how do we stop it?"

The werekat was almost to the top of the building now as the two she-kats backed up to the opposite side of the roof.

"We don't. _They _do!"

Elena pointed to the skyline behind Felina. The Enforcer turned around to see the Turbokat rapidly approaching.

"You know the SWAT Kats?"

"We have a mutual friend. Deputy Mayor Calico Briggs."

Felina just nodded then looked up again just in time to see a missile fired from the black jet slam full force into the werekat just as it was climbing over the ledge onto the roof. A powerful burst of electrical energy engulfed the werekat from the megavolt missile. It screamed and fell backward, back down to the street below. The jet circled around the engaged the vertical thrusters to hover just over the edge of the building. The canopy opened and T-Bone looked over to the two she-kats while Razor checked his scanners.

"You two alright?"

Felina sighed in relief."Yes, but what about that thing?"

Razor shook his head.

"It managed to get into the sewers before we could hit it again."

T-Bone nodded.

"Don't worry though, it won't get far. We're going after it."

Elena shook her head, her ears pinned.

"Not down there, you're not!"

T-Bone glared at the dark-furred she-kat. "Listen Miss Kougré, we appreciate your help on this, but we know what we're doing."

"No, _you _listen. I know what this thing is capable of. You won't stand a chance down there on foot." She also glances at Felina. "ANY of you."

Felina also pinned her ears, glaring at the other she-kat as well.

"What exactly IS that thing, anyway?"

"A werekat"

Razor was still checking his sensors, trying to keep a location on the werekat below, but was apparently having little success. The larger SWAT Kat though scoffed at Elena's comment.

"A 'werekat'? Are you serious?"

She nodded.

"Yes. And believe me when I say this: you have absolutely no chance one on one. You need to get it out in the open. And it would be a lot easier during the day, when it's not in the _were _form."

Now T-Bone seemed to be getting a bit upset.

"Now just wait a minute, where do you get off telling _us _how to..."

"Hang on, T-Bone," Felina interrupted. "She might have a point." She then looked back to Elena. "Do you know how to find this thing during the day?"

"Yes. That's what I was out here doing with my dog. Tracking him. He lives somewhere nearby. All but one of the attacks have happened within a nine block radius."

She then pulled out a print-out of the map of the attacks, with a large area circled in red, from her inside jacket pocket. Also pulling out a copy of the werekat's possible description in his normal form, she handed these to Felina.

The female Enforcer looked over the papers curiously. "Where did you get this?"

T-Bone watched them coldly. "Good question."

Elena just shrugged. "I have my sources."

Felina sighed and shook her head. "Fine, I'll have a sketch artist make a rendering of this guy and the Enforcers will begin searching at first light."

The larger SWAT Kat glanced back to his partner, who shook his head, showing that he had lost track of the werekat. T-Bone then turned back to the she-kats.

"Meanwhile, we're going to make another sweep in the Turbokat in case this thing decides to resurface again soon."

The canopy closed again and the jet lifted back up over the smaller buildings before taking off back into the night sky. Over the com in her ear, Elena could hear them both, especially Razor, laughing. She also gave a barely noticeable smile. They had played that one out well, and hopefully Felina won't suspect how they might _really _know each other.

Felina folded the papers and tucked them inside her uniform before the two she-kats climbed back down the fire-escape. Aries was waiting for them at the bottom, his tail wagging, and apparently unhurt. Once on the ground, the Enforcer smiled to her 'friend'.

"Okay. So, you've obviously decided that you're not going to join the Enforcers. Yet you're still out here searching for things that no ordinary citizen has any business dealing with. Do we have to watch out for another 'vigilante'?"

Elena just shrugged. "Think of me more as a P.I. I'm only doing this because I know what this thing is, and because it's partially my fault that it's here."

Felina nodded. "Be careful then. Umm.. how did you get your dog out here in the first place on your bike?"

"Didn't. Borrowed the guys' tow-truck."

"Huh? So, they _know _what you're out here doing?"

"Not very happy about it, but yes. They know."

"Right. Well, the next time you decide to do P.I. work on something this dangerous, be sure to let the Enforcers know first."

She smiled. "Gotcha."

**.**

The following morning, before opening the auto garage, the three kats sat at the breakfast table in their upstairs apartment. Elena thought over the events of that early morn.

"I just wish we could have gotten there _before _that guy got killed. And I didn't dare shift forms with Felina there."

Chance put a hand on her arm.

"Hey, you did the best you could. We all did. And Lieutenant Feral has a knack of showing up right where the trouble is, just like we do. It's what makes her a good Enforcer."

"Yeah, I know. Well, at least now they can help with the search for this guy. And hopefully, there _won't _be a repeat of the first time the Enforcers delt with one of these things."

Jake leaned back in his chair, having just finished his breakfast.

"What I don't get is how it managed to get away so fast. It's like it just disappeared? I couldn't find anything on my scanners once it dropped into the sewers?"

Elena shook her head.

"Probably went down into the lower level and took off running at a fast clip. Werekats are _very _fast, you know."

"I know, but the infrared scanner should have at least picked up _something_. Especially as big as it is."

"Yeah, that part doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me either..."

They were all silent for a few moments, then Chance spoke up again.

"You know, we're going to have to let the Enforcers know how to kill it. Even if they do find him, I seriously doubt this guy'll simply let them arrest him without a fuss."

Jake nodded.

"No problem. We just keep a very close monitor on the Enforcer channels. Anything comes up, we immediately get on their com and tell them what to do."

Elena sighed and stood up to put the dishes away.

"Right, but remember that our swords are the only two weapons that can actually straight-out harm it. It'll have to be severely weakened by electricity first, _then_ decapitated. Or at the very least massive damage to the throat, head, or spinal column."

Jake smirked.

"I thought that's how you're supposed to kill zombies?"

Chance and Elena both laughed at that one. Chance looked to his friend.

"You've been watching way too many horror flicks, bud."

**.**

As Jim walked into the book store, he noticed that things seemed a bit quieter than usual. Back in the office where the time clock is, he found Linda crying at her computer desk.

"Problem, boss?"

His tone showed his good humor, as if nothing could possibly be wrong. Linda on the other hand, was obviously very distraught.

"My cousin's dead... My aunt called me less than a half hour ago. They found his body a few blocks from here."

"Oh, well that's too bad. Same killer?"

She nodded, still sobbing. "Yes..."

Jim just shrugged. He didn't even pretend to care this time.

"Well, I'm going on shift. Good luck!"

With two co-workers, and now the boss's cousin, apparent victims of this local serial killer, the work day ended up being pretty slow and quiet. Most kats in the neighborhood were afraid to even come out of their homes in the daytime now, even though the murders always happened late at night. Jim was the only kat who seemed to be in a chipper mood, which was strange because he had always used to be the quiet, sedate one.

At around 5pm, they began to close up the store, which normally would stay open until 8. That's when the group of five Enforcers walked in, led by Commander Feral. Jim looked up calmly as the group walked straight towards them. Feral looked over the skinny kat. He still couldn't believe that this was their killer, but three different kats had identified the sketch.

"Jim Rexmoore, you're under arrest for multiple-murder."

Linda and the other employees stared, completely struck dumb by the accusation.

Lt. Felina Feral and another officer approached Jim with a pair of handcuffs. Jim smiled darkly.

"Well, I guess that game's up. Ummm... No!"

He'd had enough of 'normal' life anyway. The thin kat suddenly shifted forms, into the massive tan-furred werekat. The store employees and patrons ran screaming out as Jim picked up a heavy bookrack and threw it at the Enforcers. They all managed to duck just in time as the rack smashed through the store's front window.

Feral's jaw dropped at the sudden transformation.

"HOLY KATS! Open fire!"

Drawing his own gun, he and five other Enforcers ducked down behind the bookshelves and began to fire on the werekat. None of the barrage of bullets seemed to have any effect, and the werekat made a horrible noise that sounded like laughing. He then lunged forward and backhanded the nearest Enforcer, sending him flying backward into the wall. He went for Felina next, but she managed to roll just out of the way. The werekat then jumped, clearing the store's length easily, and took off out the window into the streets.

Several Enforcer patrol cars had the block cut off from traffic, but a crowd of onlookers stood at the very outskirts. Almost all of the kat citizens screamed out when the huge monster lept out of the window. Three helicopters hovered overhead and began to fire lasers at the creature, but nothing seemed to be able to stop it. Feral and Felina ran out of the store and ducked down behind the open doors of Feral's car. That's when they heard the transmission over the police band. It was the smaller of the SWAT Kats, Razor.

"Attention Enforcers: That thing has to be weakened by a powerful jolt of electricity before any real damage can be done to it. Once it's been severely weakened, you have to try to remove the head, or at the very least destroy the throat, spine, or brain."

Feral growled, but he knew that the SWAT Kat was never wrong when it came to things like this. He looked up in time to see the three helicopters maneuver to the side as the Turbokat flew overhead, switching into hover over the skirmish. They were going to need all the help they could get on this one, and the SWAT Kats were the only ones who managed to stop the first one that attacked several months ago.

The werekat ran and jumped up onto the hood of the nearest Enforcer patrol car, crushing the hood and engine block under his weight and smashing through the front window with his fist. The two Enforcers crouched behind the car turned and made a run for it, but he managed to snatch one up by the collar. A well-aimed shot by Felina hit the werekat in the hand and it dropped the cop, who scrambled quickly away behind another car.

Razor locked on with his megavolt missile, but couldn't hit the fire button.

"Crud! He's too close to the Enforcers! I can't risk the shot."

"Well, we've got to do something, Sure-Shot!"

The smaller kat looked around the area. "There!" He then got back onto the com. "Commander, can you somehow lure that thing underneath that power line across form you while not getting too close?"

Feral never had a chance to answer as Felina jumped up from hiding and ran towards the area.

"Felina! No!"

She ignored her uncle, and fired a shot at the back of the werekat.

"Hey! Ugly! Over here! Remember me?"

The werekat turned around and glared at the she-kat. He snarled viciously and lunged. She managed to duck out of the way just in time as the werekat slammed right into the power-line's metal pole. The instant she was clear, a pair of turboblades was fired from the Turbokat. They severed the power-line and the wire's two broken ends fell down, one of them hitting the werekat. It screamed out as the strong voltage surged through it from the electrical wires.

As soon as his niece was back behind cover, Feral yelled out. "Open fire!"

Another large barrage of bullets and lasers where shot at the werekat, most of them aimed for the head and neck. Weakened by the electricity, it's head almost exploded off from the numerous hits, and it fell over in a bloody mass. No-one even dared to breathe for several seconds, until it was obvious the thing wouldn't get back up.

Carefully, Feral, Felina, and several other Enforcers approached the thing, weapons aimed. Feral kicked it on the shoulder. Nothing. A large pool of blood was now forming around it. Felina breathed a smile of relief and waved up to the Turbokat as the jet re-engaged it's primary thrusters and took off. Megakat City was again safe. For now.

**.**

[Next Installment: **A Shaky Situation**: Earthquakes began to threaten Megakat City, and they are gaining in strength and destructiveness. No-one knows what's causing the quakes or how to stop them, until Dark Kat Reveals that the City must surrender to him, or his newest machine will shake all of Megakat City to the ground!]


End file.
